Second Best, Always
by CrayolaCreation
Summary: [Sequel to always second best] AU s5 Melissa's plan has been revealed; Eddie & Rachel look after her child after she/he's born, but nothing is simple when Waterloo Road merges with John Foster's, Philip's attention is awry when he starts his yr 12 & Max has a secret that could change everything & will Rachel find out what it is? This is a secret that could change everything.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer; I don't own Waterloo Road okay? c: But if I did Tom and Grantly wouldn't have died, we would've learn't more about Melissa and why she married two men in the first place, and Eddie and Rachel would still be together (somehow) All I own is my imagination (my very wild imagination might I add) and James Fenshaw- sibling of Rachel & Melissa who is a figment of my imagination. **

**This is a sequel to 'Always second best' but this is called 'Second best, Always' see what I did there? Okay enough babbling for now let us commence. **

**Chapter 1.**

James Fenshaw, looked at the brief of his next assignment, and the details of who his next victim was; although victim was a harsh word to describe the situation, perhaps customer was better suited, his next customer was; Max Tyler. Which was both equally good and bad, this would kill two birds with one stone, Max Tyler just so happened to be the first husband of his sister; Melissa, and this would help him progress in his job and solve Melissa's problem all in one good. But it was hard to determine whether the bad outweighed the good, Max was a careful man and not one to take chances, James would have to be especially careful around him to avoid him suspecting a thing, after all Max was very seldom alone, but the less allies Max had the more chance James had of succeeding in his mission.

After doing some extensive research, James gained several pieces of knowledge about Max, and he smirked, Max didn't look entirely innocent either, just like Melissa he'd been married twice and he was unwilling to admit either of these marriages to the police, in James' eyes this was perfect blackmail material. Max Tyler was also head of a school called John Foster's which was surprisingly enough merging with Waterloo Road; the school that his other sister; Rachel was head of.

This was easy, surprisingly easy, even for him, he thought to himself as a plan crept into his mind, it was the perfect solution, all he needed to do was to convince Rachel to give him a job as a teacher, which was easier said than done since when she hired Melissa everything went from bad to worse if that was even possible, and accuse Max of breaking the law somehow, and force him into a vulnerable position. And, hey presto! His work would _nearly _be complete.

Ironically enough at one point James had trained to be a teacher, back then he was naïve and innocent, it wasn't until things got steadily worse and when he was blackmailed into a checkmate position that he gave up his job to train to become an expert in a well-paid but life threatening job. Without thinking more about his plan his thoughts laid discarded as he picked up the phone and began to type in the familiar number.

"Melissa," he said solemnly as he tried to keep his tone on a neutral wavelength.

"James?" Melissa replied questioningly she sounded as if she was or had been crying, and James' curiosity continued to grow. "Have you got the money?" She said in a half-whisper, sounding as if she was afraid of being heard, and James' eyebrows quirked up in surprise.

"No, but you still owe me for visiting Rachel," he said quickly, "and I can solve your problem without you having to give Richard any money," he finished with a note of finality in his tone.

"James, I'm pregnant," Melissa said finally breaking down and collapsing into tears, "he's going to take the baby away if he doesn't have the money…" She said between hiccups, before pausing dramatically, "the baby is going to live with Rachel and Eddie," she said finishing. And James nodded at her plan; he didn't know that things were _that _bad, but part of him still refused to give Melissa the money, after all that kind of money didn't grow on trees, you couldn't click your fingers and have money falling from the sky. But even though Melissa claimed that she was giving Rachel and Eddie the baby for the baby's safety, he figured that there was something more to it than that, there was always something more to it than that. He didn't ask why or push the conversation any further; instead he changed the subject abruptly.

"Melissa, I need to ask you a favour," he said in a pleading tone, "I know where Max is, I just need your help, and once you divorce him you can go to the police," he said and one could mistake his tone for a pleading tone, but James Fenshaw never pleaded.

"Okay what do you want?" Melissa asked suspiciously.

"You have a friend, Linda correct?" He asked for confirmation but he knew he was right, after hours of extensive research he was very rarely wrong, she didn't reply but he could hear her nodding her head down the phone line. "Who is a friend of Michael Byrne?"

"Yes, but I don't see-," Melissa began confused.

"I need you to get him to write a letter of recommendation, recommending me for a teaching position at Waterloo Road, you see my dear Mel, Max Tyler and John Fosters is merging with Waterloo Road in September, and that is the key to everything," he said swiftly.

"Okay," Melissa said "I'll ask him," she said and no further words were spoken about the situation. Everything was finally falling into place, and things were going to get much simpler both for James and for his sister's too, from what he gathered Max Tyler wasn't a very nice man; and by the time he married Melissa James had lost contact with both of his sibling's. And it looked as if Melissa wouldn't be the only one in trouble when he was around; he seemed the spoilt type who never liked it when things didn't go his way… Had James Fenshaw bitten off more than he could chew?

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**A/N I hope you enjoyed reading this, any ideas of what James' job is? Please review it makes my day!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Max Tyler rummaged around through his desk through the ever growing mountain of paper that was piled on top of his desk messily, he was normally an organised person, organised being the alternative word but since hearing the news last January that the school he was working out would be merging with a- how did they put it? Oh yeah 'a less privileged school,' needless to say that Max wasn't looking forward to the merge that would be happening next month, to say he hated how his life was crumbling in front of his very eyes was an understatement. His phone gave a violent ring as he felt it vibrate in his pocket, he clutched the phone tightly before pressing it into his ear; he had a plan and if it all went according to plan then Waterloo Road would be well in his reach and he would have control over not one but two schools. "Ah, Christopher," he said looking down at his paper's once more.

"Max," Chris said briefly, before informing Max of what had been happening at Waterloo Road; how Rachel let her personal relationship interfere with her professional judgement when Eddie Lawson returned, this was part of his job, he was a double agent, someone who could be trusted at Waterloo Road, or at least could appear so on the outside, he was working for Max back at John Foster's. The sad thing was he had very little choice in the matter, the money didn't even tempt him into doing it, he didn't like being deceitful, and over the past few months of working at Waterloo Road. He had built a strange, steady friendship with some of the people there, and it didn't feel right to betray their trust any more.

"Max, I'm cutting off the deal," he announced, but it was too late, he should've guessed as much as soon as he told him how he thought Rachel's personal life was affecting her professional judgement, it wasn't of course, but Chris couldn't help but feel like he was being pushed into the background once more, the green eyed monster had paid him a visit and now he wasn't the only one paying the price back, Rachel and the rest of Waterloo Road were too. And it was all his fault, he should've suspected something as soon as Max went quiet which was never a good sign, he was naïve and stupid, he had allowed himself to be tricked, to be a pawn in Max' game of chess.

To Chris' immense surprise, Max didn't bother to argue, had he been expecting this response all along? "I understand," he said briefly not an inch of compassion transparent in his tone, "anyway you've done more than enough," he said, "I have a few phone calls to make," he said briefly with a note of finality in his tone before hanging up. And that was when worry erupted in Chris' mind, Max sounded pleased, but what did he mean? It was then when an epiphany soared into his brain one that he had been completely oblivious too, yet one that sounded awfully obvious now that he had time to think about it. He loved Rachel that was the long and short of it, but the thing was he loved Rachel as a friend, nothing more nothing less.

He then took a giant leap of faith and went to Rachel's house to confront her, as a friend and a colleague it was his duty to inform her of what had happened, even though in a black and white world it looked as if he had just stabbed his boss in the back end of story.

"Hi Rachel," he said avoiding looking into her gaze as he entered the room, Eddie was nowhere to be seen and neither was Philip this was going to be a painful task, but Chris figured out that the quicker you did it the less painful it was. "Um, you know I was working at John Foster's before?" He said stammering incoherently.

"Yes," Rachel replied brightly, a bit too brightly for her liking, but it was the best tone of fake enthusiasm she could muster, she was after all forced to practice her fake enthusiasm when she was informed that her sister was marrying the man she loved, the man who she would always love no matter what. "What about it?" She added knowing that Chris would need all the prompting he could get, after all since the beginning of the conversation he had flatly refused to make eye contact with her, why was still a mystery to her.

"Uh, Max Tyler," Chris said, "he paid me to uh, spy on you," he said grimacing at how bad it sounded, "he didn't give me a choice, I was blackmailed, I-," he said breaking off and shooting a glance at Rachel's tear stained face, and coming to the conclusion that her free reign of emotions wasn't entirely his fault, although it was partially. She ushered him out a look of discontent apparent on her face, before closing the door behind him, before slouching behind the door and resting her head in between her knees. Why did this have to keep happening to her? Why did someone stab her in the back as soon as she decided to trust them?

Her life was a mess right now, and if she decided to admit that to anyone else no-one would bother to correct her, after all her sister who was pregnant was on the run, and when the baby was born she was supposed to act like a motherly figure, her current boyfriend was the father of the baby. And guess what? Her sister wasn't even sure who the father of the unborn baby was which was a good and a bad thing but made matters even more complicated, for well everyone.

She had tried to maintain her relationship with Eddie despite the costs, but things had yet to return to normal, the strangest thing of all was despite everything her sister wanted her to date her ex-fiancé or at least that was the impression she was giving off anyway.

"Hey Rach," Eddie's voice called as it echoed all over the house bringing the silence to an end, he tried to open the door, and Rachel just about manages to open the door and let him in before resuming her old position; slouching against the door. His mischievous school-boy glint in his eye, and dopey smile was enough to make an body smile even if it was a misfit of a smile that looked foreign on her face, "I have a plan," he announced, and Rachel immediately stiffened before a rush of excitement escaped through her body, what had Eddie got planned?

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**A/N What's Eddie's plan?! As promised an update today c: Since I'm in a good mood, I might update again later, but we'll see... What did you think? Opinions on Max' scheme? What do you make of Chris? What do you think he meant by having no choice?**

**Please review it makes my day!**


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